


Convergence

by Pandir



Series: Justice & Anders - Bodily Fluids [1]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alcohol, Awkward bonding, Gen, Pre-Merging, Some talk about bodily fluids, Vague mentions of blowjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 05:31:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5152118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandir/pseuds/Pandir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“Why do mortals ooze so many strange fluids?”</i><br/> <br/><i>This, Anders thought, was why Justice had such a hard time making friends.</i></p><p>An evening conversation, odd questions and tentative bonding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Convergence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KrokoRobin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrokoRobin/gifts).



> Written for the prompt: bodily fluids.
> 
> This one is about saliva. (With some honorable mention of urine and sorta vomit). It's all harmless and not gross, I promise.

Justice wondered a lot about the ways of mortals, and Justice did not shy away from probing questions, as Anders was soon to discover. However, they were not all only of the personal, very fundamental kind, that Anders deflected with ease but that kept him up at night just as much as the taint, because things were not as easy as Justice made them out to be and all Anders had ever succeeded at was running. Thankfully, Justice also asked other questions that would upset Anders less, some of them not only amusing but rather indecent, which was coincidentally exactly what Anders liked his evening conversations to be. Especially if he tried to avoid sleeping to escape the blighted nightmares.

Somehow, the two of them had gravitated towards each other. Justice did not hide his interest in the mages’ plight and Anders in particular, but there was more to it than discussing obligations. At least Justice understood his complaints, to an extent. Even with the Grey Wardens, Anders did not really fit in – he was not as committed as he should have been, maybe, and he suspected that this was why they had made him give away his cat. Maybe they were as biased towards mages who were prone to daring escapes as everyone else. Or, as Anders claimed, the Wardens were awfully moody for his taste, and not the drinking company he preferred. It was not the same with the Hero of Ferelden and the others not around.

As for Justice, well, being a literal walking corpse tended to put people off. But Anders did feel pity for the spirit. He knew Justice meant well and was struggling with being trapped in a world that was hard to comprehend within the confinements of a borrowed mortal vessel.

Imprisonment was more bearable with company, Anders knew. 

So it did not surprise him that Justice often sat beside him, observing the other Wardens who had gathered around the fire, just far enough away that their voices hard to distinguish. Anders would often joke that it was only natural for a Fade spirit to be drawn to a mage, even if Justice did not appreciate these jokes very much. Still, the spirit did listen to Anders’ tales about his adventures outside the Circle and would discuss the peculiarities of the Fade with him, though Justice was awful at describing the life of a spirit in terms a mortal could comprehend.

But sometimes, Justice also would ask questions such as, “Why do mortals ooze so many strange fluids?” completely unprompted, causing Anders to choke on his ale. This, he thought, was why Justice had such a hard time making friends. That and the obtrusive smell of decaying flesh, probably.

“Fluids?”, Anders coughed, “I sincerely hope you are talking about sweat”, he managed to get out, his eyebrows raised more in amusement then bewilderment.

“I know about sweat, it makes you sticky and reeks”, Justice clarified. It was often hard to tell how much the spirit knew because there were traces of Kristoff’s memories lingering in the remnant of his body still, or what Justice had somehow found out by observing others, and that was what made these conversations so decidedly weird at times.

“Well, you’re not wrong”, Anders conceded after he clearing his throat to stop coughing, “A long day of walking around in armor does that to a man.”  Especially to a man that was used to silky, embroidered robes. He sometimes missed them. He missed his feathers. “But I don’t think a rotting corpse should be passing any judgment here.”

Justice gave him a look. Or rather stared at him, eyes glowing in the dark in the most disconcerting way. Anders sighed and settled back on one arm, the bottle of ale in his other hand, turned to Justice to show that he was game.

“So, what is it? Is it piss again? I thought we covered that. You don’t drink, so you don’t need to get that out of your system.” 

While Justice seemed to have a vague grasp on human functions based on the memories of Kristoff's body, the spirit had a hard time interpreting these impressions with only a limited experience of what it meant to be mortal, Anders assumed, as the only tangible body the spirit had ever inhabited could not perform even the most basic things.

Anders had encouraged the spirit to drink with him one night when Justice had kept bugging him about not seeing the point in alcohol consumption no matter how much Anders tried to explain that it was simple, pointless fun. The experiment backfired, however, after Justice had downed half a bottle at once and soon discovered the notion of the alcohol seeping through his body, corroding his insides, was very discomforting. In the end, Anders decided the best way to solve this mess was holding Justice by his bony shoulders to assist with bending the possessed body over and let the ale pour out of Justice's mouth again, with Anders apologizing all the way through. He still felt awfully guilty about that whole incident, and his only defense was that he had been rather drunk himself.

“No, not that”, Justice insisted, the eerie eyes still on Anders. “But the liquid that comes from your mouth.”

“Oh”, Anders said half relieved and half disappointed. He had expected worse, but saliva was almost underwhelming. “I suppose spit must seem weird”, he mused, taking a sip from his bottle. “But to be entirely honest, I can’t tell you much about that. It does make eating less dry, mostly, but you would not know about eating in the first place.”

Justice nodded, apparently contemplating.

“But why do you ooze it when you sleep?”, the spirit asked, finally.

Trust Justice to make things awkward. But at least that explained why the question had been bothering the spirit the first place.

“And how do you know about that, exactly?” Anders did not bother much with hiding the suspicion in his tone.

“I saw”, Justice explained matter-of-factly, which did not make it any less upsetting. Anders had wondered sometimes how Justice passed his nights, when the whole camp was asleep except for the few who would stand watch. But when Anders woke in the middle of the night, he’d often seen Justice sitting not too far from him, staring into the ambers of the dying fire, unmoving. Still, Anders could never shake a creeping feeling that Justice had been watching him, from time to time.

“Then I’ll have you know that I don’t take too kindly to being supervised in my sleep.” Anders knew he was maybe getting a bit too heated, but it was hard not to get riled up at the notion of Justice constantly observing him, especially now that he’d finally escaped the Templars’ scrutiny.

Justice demeanor changed instantly, the dead-eyed stare wavered and the oddly rigid expression contorted into one of slight distress. “You were making noises”, the spirit said, quickly, almost defensively, “I was concerned. I apologize if I wronged you.”

That insinuation made Anders’ stomach churn. His dreams were nothing he liked dwelling on, most of them courtesy of the Joining. Justice really had a way of sticking fingers right in the most uncomfortable subjects.

Still, it was hard to stay angry at Justice. Despite Justice’s bold, direct way of interrogating, Anders knew the spirit was lost and confused and always trying hard to get things right. And as far as Anders was concerned, that made Justice one of the most decent individuals he had ever encountered.

Anders took a deep breath, but the clenched up knot in his stomach would not disappear. “I appreciate the thought, but please”, he gave Justice a look, hoping the spirit would understand the need for privacy, “let me sleep in peace.”

Justice nodded, “I will, then. You have my word.” 

What surprised Anders most was the honest worry that seemed to have motivated Justice to look after him. Truth to be told, he had started to wonder if Justice appreciated his company as much as Anders had come to value their talks now, and whether spirits could feel lonely at all. But overall, Anders had just assumed that mortals had to be rather interchangeable to a spirit. It was oddly comforting to know that Justice did not seem to think so.

“I hate to disappoint you, but there’s no big mystery behind it all”, Anders picked up the conversation again before the silence stretching between them would become too awkward and his thoughts too entangled. “I have nightmares and occasionally I drool on my pillow. Most humans do. I suppose, we are gross and disgusting like that”, he concluded, offering Justice a playfully suggestive smile.

Not that Justice ever picked up on his flirty attitude. Instead, the spirit seemed unconvinced. “But if you consider it disgusting, why would you exchange saliva then?”

That effortlessly distracted Anders from any of his previous ponderings. “Exchange saliva”, he repeated, with pointedly raised eyebrows, “Did you witness that first hand, too, or did good old Kristoff provide you with some rather saucy memories on that?”, he asked, entirely unable to fight the grin that was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Justice glanced over to the few of their fellow Wardens that were still sitting together at the fireside, deep in conversation.

 “Both”, the spirit finally confessed. “Now I can’t help but wonder. What is the allure of kissing, if it is simply licking the drool off each other?”

The utter seriousness with which Justice delivered these puzzled thoughts was too much for Anders, but spirits, it seemed, were blessedly immune to embarrassment, and Anders’ breathy high bouts of laughter did not disconcert Justice much.

“I don’t see the appeal”, Justice stated, when Anders did take a moment to recover from his laughing fit, running a hand over his face and drawing a few deep breaths. It had been a while since he’d laughed that hard, and once he’d started, it was always difficult to stop until he was exhausted and in literal tears. But he did want to be there for Justice, and that was enough to sober him up.

“Well, if you put it like that”, Anders admitted, still a bit breathless, “It sounds much worse than it is. It’s very pleasant, actually.”

“So you like being disgusted?”

“Well”, Anders offered a wry grin at Justice’s incredulous tone, “Sometimes, that too.”

Even though Justice appeared to be entirely bewildered, Anders could not help but wonder. Justice had claimed that only demons had desires. But maybe spirits did know of them too, but only lacked the understanding and the urge?

“It’s more about the intimacy than the saliva, if that is any consolation to you”, he assured him. “And it's not all slobbering. It can be really worth your while if you’re any good at it.” But talking about kissing was only poorly conveying any of its merits, and it definitely fell short from actually doing it. 

Anders’ thoughts drifted as his gaze wandered to the other Wardens, and he idly wondered if the gorgeous one with the dark hair would be any good at it. He should ask another night, maybe that would get him some demonstration. No one said that being a Grey Warden was mutually exclusive with having a bit of fun, right? Especially since Anders had his newly acquired freedom to celebrate. He’d heard some stories about the sexual prowess of the Wardens, and it would be disappointing if none of them were true.

“Actually, given the right scenario, there is a lot I would put in my mouth”, Anders added, eyes on the Warden still, but his mind drifted somewhere entirely else, to high bookshelves full of dusty old tomes, the feeling of the heavy fabric of the robes as his hands brushed them upwards and his palms grazed the soft hairs of the thighs beneath, fingers softly tugging at his hair, the steady breath above him hitching—

Anders pressed his eyes shut. It had been years, he reprimanded himself, and he did not want to linger on it, or the suffocating feeling that was rising inside of him. The only reason it was surfacing now was surely because he was in dire need of some company at night. Yet as much as he tried to brush it off, it was hard to get rid of the choking feeling in his throat.

“Now you are talking about sexual intercourse again”, Justice said with an air of admonishment, making Anders, who had all but forgotten about the spirit's presence, almost jerk upright. “It seems you favour that topic.”

Anders liked to think he was not easily flustered, but he felt oddly caught and averted his gaze to take another sip of ale. Maybe it was Justice’s dead-eyed, unblinking gaze that unnerved him.

“I am still talking about fluids”, he gave back. “Not so keen on hearing about them anymore?”

When Justice did only look at him cryptically, Anders decided it was high time to conclude their educational conversation and to get some rest. Tomorrow would involve travelling in armor, and Darkspawn, probably.

None of them moved, however, even though Anders knew very well it would have to be him who’d have to get up and leave.

He yawned. “I’m so tired, I could fall asleep right now and here.”

Justice’s blank eyes shifted their gaze, as if the spirit was uncertain. “I would offer you to do so”, Justice started, yet hesitated before adding, “But I promised not to watch over you in your sleep anymore.”

Anders had to be truly exhausted by now to think the offer sounded rather inviting. Then again, sleeping alone did not appear too appealing anymore, with nothing but nightmares waiting for him. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist over that”, he decided with another stifled yawn. “You have my permission to stare at me as much as you please. At least for tonight.” 

It was more than strange to lay his head on the lap of a corpse, but oddly enough, Justice felt neither particularly cold nor dead. There was a warmth about the body that was harboring the spirit, as if it was burning from inside, not like fire, but steadier. A distant humming like a strange, strong magic, filled Anders’ mind as he closed his eyes. It was like touching the Fade, as he had done so often to reach for spiritual energies that would grant him the power to heal, at the same time foreign and familiar.

When he opened his eyes just enough to catch a glimpse of Justice, the spirit’s gaze was on the fire again that had burned low by now. In the dark, the sunken face looked like a skull, dead and unmoving, but the eyes were alight with an otherworldly gleam.

“Watch out that I don’t drool on your pants”, Anders joked, softly, and closed his eyes.

For the first time in weeks, the taint in his blood did not haunt his dreams.


End file.
